Hello friends. I wanna ask you about your marijuana experiences. I think it's very bad for shorttime memory but when i was high in classroom and i was listenning to every word that my teacher said and i remembered almost everything.
But it was absolutely uncomfortable socialy! I also noticed that i have very
different experiences after intoxicating with marijuana.

What about you and this drug?

(OF COURSE I DON'T RECOMMEND IT TO TRY)

(btw. sorry for my bad english)

it has been shown to have some short-term benefits regarding increased focus, but the long term benifits are very bad.

for example, over time your focus will get worse & worse, requiring more & more pot. which will make your focus get worse & worse......

More discussion in this (http://www.addforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8647) thread.

Mod note: This forum cannot support or encourage the use of illegal drugs or misuse of Rx medicine. Please keep that in mind when responding. Thank you.

My experience with it was very brief, mostly because it made me feel dumber than a rock.

I trip out to the twilight zone. I hate the stuff. It reminds me of psychosis. Which brings up a somewhat rare, yet real, phenomenon. If you have schizophrenia in your genes, getting stoned can trigger it. So, if you have any schiz in your family tree, you're nuts to play russian roulette like that.

I would like some peer reviewed scientific studies to back those statements up. The 2002 Canadian Senate Report on Cannabis indicated that cannabis poses no serious risk to mental or physical health.

it has been shown to have some short-term benefits regarding increased focus, but the long term benifits are very bad.

for example, over time your focus will get worse & worse, requiring more & more pot. which will make your focus get worse & worse......
medical studies have debunked all theories of long term marijuana use, specifically those regarding focusing. Once the marijuana has left the system there are no residual effects that are not purely placebo.

I would like some peer reviewed scientific studies to back those statements up. The 2002 Canadian Senate Report on Cannabis indicated that cannabis poses no serious risk to mental or physical health.

Sure. The links below are to the U.S. Libraries of Medicine and Health.

Cannabis and Schizophrenia: new findings in an old debate
Neuropsychiatry, 2008
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19080993?ordinalpos=8&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP anel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
On the basis of cohort studies that have been conducted within the last decades and recent meta-analyses the hypothesized connection between cannabis use und psychotic disorders can be corroborated. The risk to develop psychotic symptoms and also schizophrenic psychoses is thus explicitly elevated for young people who use cannabis.

Cannabis use and risk of psychotic or affective mental health outcomes: a systematic review
Lancet. 2007 Jul 28
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17662880?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP anel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_Discovery_RA&linkpos=1&log$=relatedreviews&logdbfrom=pubmed
The evidence is consistent with the view that cannabis increases risk of psychotic outcomes independently of confounding and transient intoxication effects, although evidence for affective outcomes is less strong. So, this one concludes there is a correllation to psychotic disorders and schizophrenia but is inconclusive regarding bipolar disorder and depression (affective disorders).

You can search the database for more info.

Interesting that Schizphrenia patients enjoy cannabis as it decreases their "negative traits". The corrolation so far is that (and it is not universally found in all studies), and no one can tell if people with Schizophrenia used cannabis because they had it or if the cannabis caused it. Most scientists trying to define cannabis psychosis can find no universal traits to it, meaning that it most likely is made up in people's imagination after watching 'reefer madness' and the like. Cannabis does sometimes present as a mild acid experience.

In any case, I thank you for those studies.

Interesting that Schizphrenia patients enjoy cannabis as it decreases their "negative traits". The corrolation so far is that (and it is not universally found in all studies), and no one can tell if people with Schizophrenia used cannabis because they had it or if the cannabis caused it. Most scientists trying to define cannabis psychosis can find no universal traits to it, meaning that it most likely is made up in people's imagination after watching 'reefer madness' and the like. Cannabis does sometimes present as a mild acid experience.

In any case, I thank you for those studies.

Cites please.

These studies are not talking about cannabis psychosis. That is transitory and wears off when the drug clears the systems, which can take quite a while with pot. Schiz symptomology also is different than general psychosis which is why there is a separate disorder called psychotic disorder.

Schiz occurs in only 1-2% of the population. Only 50-60% have a relative with schiz, so that's not a clear cut take care warning. Given the occurance, ~98%% of people tokin' would not be expected to develop the problem. That can easily lead one to conclude the theory is bunk. However, if you are one of the rare percent, it's a big deal.

Although some of the genetics have been found recently, there has not been enough time for a one to one relationship to be established. Based on twin studies, the theory still is that a stressful event of some sort triggers the illness in at least some percent of those for whom it manifests. What constitutes a stressful event most likely will remain unclear since "stress" varies from person to person. Getting stoned kinda alters brain chemistry enough too much to see it as not falling into that "stressful events" category, IMO.

It is possible that symptoms lead to use. That may well be the case for some. However, there is reseach concluding it's the other way around. So... if someone has schiz in the family, getting stoned is playing with fire.

Note, I have met two people who directly attribute onset to their serious cannibis use. One in particular was still hoping it would go away a year later while he was struggling to find a way to forgive himself for getting high so much. Cause, effect, dunno. Is it worth the risk if you already know your in a high risk pool?

Hey, I'm not anti-marijuanna! I just see it as a potential time bomb for some. Occassional use, meh, for most it's a-okay. Frequent, daily use... usually self-medicating another problem that could be better treated another way, which requires owning that there is a problem in the first place, and willingness/ability to proactively seek help. So, going back to the original question, I think medicating ADD daily is a bad idea for a lot of reasons. Some of the more straightforward ones are it eventually worsens memory and attention while increasing the probability of depression.

i currently smoke, i have been for nearly 10 years. i remember quickly falling in love with pot shortly after my first time. it opened up a whole new world to me - one where i could relax, watch movies, enjoy a walk by the lake, find something extremely interesting.

i have now been diagnosed with ADHD and still smoke - although recently i switched to straterra and i have to admit my desire for weed has diminished all of a sudden after 2.5 weeks of strattera.
i'm not ready yet to give up the pot - but will reevaluate periodically. i gave up alcohol a year ago and will never go back given the way my life has improved.

**We do not allow posts that encourage the use of illegal drugs...see guidelines**

enjoy the sun,

pd

Research every drug you take. Check the source of the information (U.S. government studies of marijuana have a long history of bias). I would recommend the Canadian Senate report on cannabis, the UK House of Lords report on marijuana, or studies done by the Dutch and Jamaican governments. None of them say marijuana is harmless, but none of them think it is as dangerous as alcohol or many common non-prescription drugs.

Research any drug that you intend to put in your body. That's what I do. And that's why my bloodstream is full of caffeine and THC. I am satisfied that I am not taking any undue health risks. Many takers of prescription medicines can't say the same thing.

The most current research about marijuana triggering the onset of schizophrenia indicates that it may trigger the onset, but it doesn't cause it. In all likelihood, people who become schizophrenic after marijuana use would have only delayed the onset of schizophrenic symptoms if they didn't smoke.

Please feel free to answer the OP's questions since he is asking personal experiences; but if you wish to debate whether marajuana is safe/unsafe or should be legal/illegal please pm our Super Moderator Meadd823 for access to the Private Debate Forum about such subjects.

Thank you.

just to let you know my friends that alcohol can be healthy in some way, I don't know what exactly the amount of alcohol is healthy to drink every day but for example I know that 1.5 cup of red vine every day is healthy but recommended to drink together with food!
a small amount of alcohol highering the good cholesterol and lowering the bad cholesterol, also its good for the heart and for the blood and some other things in the body but only in a small amount thats the point, if you drink more then the recommended amount then the alcohol will do the opposite and damage your body.
just do some searching in google if you want to know about it
(oh and sorry for my english =] )

i would like to let you know that i remained as honest as possible with my psych doc. rather than hiding from her that i was enjoying the green, i told her and i told her specifically what i found to be the benefits - mostly relaxing and the ability to hyperfocus and the ability to walk through that "hard to define" wall of fear/anxiety that would keep me from doing even some simple tasks.

i really think this information along with ALL of my other info helped her suspect add.

My experimentation with things both well known and obscure over the years led me to belive that nothing but dopagenic substances can put a dent in this umbrella of various problems we call ADHD. One of the last substances on my list of "things i would take for adhd" is marijuana. Sure, in the short term it has mood enhancing properties that one could describe as anti-depressant but any sort of long term use seems to induce depression and anxiety. People attribute all sorts of things to marijuana for reasons that i cant really fathom, i guess its just the result of it being so heavily used.

I dont see anything positive in alcohol for adhd. While its mode of action is dopagenic in nature theres just no way to manage its use without it being destructive on some level. Its like nihilism in a bottle.

The "two glasses of wine a day" thing is coming into question recently after its been discovered the cancer rates that have a casual link to alcohol consumption.

As it relates to ADD, I definitely feel that MJ appeals to the need for instant gratification that many of us seem to have. I'll usually have a tough time not enjoying it once a day, when I have it. When that quantity runs out, I am able to take a 2 week to 1 month break with no problem. But, when I'm "Holdin' Caulfied" something as simple as searching for new music, where it can be hard to find something different that still excites me, will be put off because I know that as long as I only smoke once a day, in a good setting, it WILL feel good.

The amotivational syndrome and effects on my social ability dramatically increase avoidance for me. I've been very passive and avoidant (of people/situations, not thoughts) ever since early childhood and even avoided this site for nearly a year simply because I fibbed that I took overlapping small doses of Vyvanse 20s (to illustrate a point about the XR) when I had only turned in a prescription that I later found was before shipment of said dosage. So, when unmedicated ADD had me feeling panicky just sitting down to do a big assignment, the urge to put something off on cannabis is obviously amplified. I will be scared that so many casual statements will sound strange even with old friends while sober, so when I smoke with a friend I'll be either afraid to talk or I'll babble and be angry at myself for as many as 3 days following.

I've recently got back on Vyvanse and it actually makes me less likely to smoke or drink. Currently, I save MJ for alone time and I find that ending a tough day with a small amount gives me long-term motivation, in that I'll feel very lucky to be alive and feel that all I need is a few good friends (and low-dose cannabis, unfortunately) to get through any of the downpours that life loves giving us. Finding this strength within yourself would be healthier, of course. But, sober, I'll focus too much on truths and it's hard to be confident even for sociability and productivity's sake when I have a long-history of bad experiences that'd suggest I'm nothing to put confidence in.

tl;dr: I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who finds themselves satisfied with the socially accepted, legal options. However, it has been a big part of my growth, provides the closest thing to spirituality I have in my life, and keeps me away from developing more harmful addictions. I am glad I learned about addiction in myself before turning 21 or trying other drugs that seemed non-addictive in theory. I found out recently that my father is an alcoholic and I can't imagine where I'd be if I had developed alcoholism.

I've gone through periods of heavy pot-use to very little. Prior to being diagnosed/starting on meds (about 8 months ago). I found that weed generally made me pretty relaxed / socially comfortable.

However, I did find that it had a negative impact on my short term memory/ability to focus, so even when I was in my heavier-smoking phases, I would cut back/quit during exams and high-stress times at school because I knew it was impacting my ability to study/focus/retain information.


Since starting on meds, I've really cut back on weed for various reasons. One is, I want to get a good sense for what my meds are actually doing for me, and being able to tell how effective they are when trying to balance out the negative side effects of weed is easier.

Also, when I first started my meds, the combo of weed+Ritalin was not very pleasent. I'd get racing heart, feel like my body was throbbing, I'd get anxious/nervous and feel dumb as a rock - even remebring rules to simple board games was difficult.

I still smoke once in a blue moon (and the above side effects are not there anymore, guess I adjusted) - but find that what I gain by not smoking weed regularly is worth it. One, I don't have as many negative side effects, my memory is intact, my meds are more effective and I find it easier to focus. And, when I do smoke 'once in awhile', it's more effective, takes less to get me high and I tend to enjoy it far more.

for a time I smoked daily at night and had Adderal in the morning and I was lifted out of a horrible state of depression and was able to focus and work so well that I not only got my homework done I did it in class and went from straight F's to A's and B's.

medical studies have debunked all theories of long term marijuana use, specifically those regarding focusing. Once the marijuana has left the system there are no residual effects that are not purely placebo.


Would you mind posting a medical study that proves marijuana doesn't have any effect on memory after frequent, long term use?

My short term memory seems worse compared to how it was before I smoked pot. Hopefully it's just placebo though.

Pot is good fun and mostly harmless if you are responsible about how often you use it.

When I was smoking weed daily, it was fine at first but I started using it as an 'escape' and my grades and friendships with some people started to suffer. It made me not care about things as much, it made me lazy and it made me boring, it made me angry/irritable when I couldn't get high. I overdid it and smoked too much. IF I had stuck to smoking just on weekends I'm confident it wouldn't have caused any problems.

The interesting thing with cannabis is how the effects can be quite different depending on the person. Some people get really relaxed, some people anxious, some people get the giggles, some turn super-serious. I think it's the same with the ability to handle smoking over the long term - some can handle being stoned 24/7 and be happy with their lives and 'successful'. Others can't even tolerate smoking once a week.

My 'theory' is to know what sort of person you are and how much/if/when you can tolerate smoking. Despite it being mostly harmless it still is 'mind altering' and this can effect your life positively or negatively.

The good thing with pot - when I quit I went back to exactly the way I was before, apart from the slight short term memory issues. IF I had abused alcohol as heavily as I did pot, I wouldn't be close to exactly the same.

disclaimer: the above is IMO, based on my personal experiences.



The most current research about marijuana triggering the onset of schizophrenia indicates that it may trigger the onset, but it doesn't cause it. In all likelihood, people who become schizophrenic after marijuana use would have only delayed the onset of schizophrenic symptoms if they didn't smoke.That's the way I understand it as well. Schizophrenia often starts to show in the teenage years and if you're already predisposed to it, drug use or a stressful event can trigger it earlier than it would have shown up otherwise.

This is taken from joplin-norml.org/marijuana-facts.php

Marijuana produces immediate, temporary changes in thoughts, perceptions, and information processing. The cognitive process most clearly affected by marijuana is short-term memory. In laboratory studies, subjects under the influence of marijuana have no trouble remembering things they learned previously. However, they display diminished capacity to learn and recall new information. This diminishment only lasts for the duration of the intoxication. There is no convincing evidence that heavy long-term marijuana use permanently impairs memory or other cognitive functions.

there are studies that say there is no absolute permanent effect and there are some they say 3 joints will kill you non-bias studies and reports are very hard to come by.

completely admit i never read those links but i'm pretty positive that the reason many think that pot can trigger schitzophrenia is because those with a predisposition to schitzophrenia as well as many other disorders are SIGNIFICANLY more likely to try drugs (im pretty sure the number was around 25% more likely). The problem with most articles is that it is insanely easy to lie and mislead with them. The statistical fact that needs to be looked at when argueing this is percentage of people with the SAME or EXTREMELY SIMILAR predisposition that smoke pot or do not smoke pot that also have schitzophrenia. Until that can be done with some semblance of accuracy (which i dont think we have the ability to do at this point in time at least not very precisely, it's a guessing game atm) we won't know for sure persay.

so yes many people who smoke and do drugs tend to have a higher tendency to go schitzophrenic...but they probably had a genetic predisposition to it and were going to go schitzophrenic anyways. it just seems like pot causes it because those people also gravitate towards drugs. sampling size in studies has to be regulated and they can't really be so it's all hype and the such.

from what I heard is that people who are already schitzo can get intensified episodes while under the drugs effect. I would think that if someone who is schizophrenic already and either isn't completely aware of it or it is subtle enough to not have any outstanding symptoms and then they smoke pot, the disorder could become uncovered.

from what I heard is that people who are already schitzo can get intensified episodes while under the drugs effect. I would think that if someone who is schizophrenic already and either isn't completely aware of it or it is subtle enough to not have any outstanding symptoms and then they smoke pot, the disorder could become uncovered.

I might just have that.. I definitely hallucinate, but I can still make everything out. Sort of like being in a tank of water with goggles, but I can still move.

This is a copy of a reply i posted in another topic

<!-- / icon and title --> <!-- message --> man doing things high is SO FREAKING HARD, like you spend half the time finding a good song to listen to on youtube and keep having to force yourself to get back to the work. I don't smoke anymore.
i remember doing an english assignment baked, i wrote 200 words out of 400.

got 16/45 mark (film review)

That was weird, as well i just wrote the film was great and yeah.

I did a economics test stoned and got 33/40. so quite weird, i DO have a big interest in economics, but i was also under the influence of a certain herb.

I think most people should steer well clear of pot if they are in school or work, it sorta does make you retarded while under the effect of it, i don't believe in most of the research concerning permanent effects (holes in your brain, etc is a load of rubbish), I was using it to get to sleep for a while, but now i have to stay up alot later to get to sleep as i'm not tired at 9PM, i get off the computer earliar, have a cup of tea, maybe a shower even. put on some calming music which doesn't have lyrics, maybe light an incense stick to put a nice smell in the room.

Maybe when i'm retired one day i'll smoke pot (hehe can't wait).

oh yeah i've only stopped for about a week and things are starting to taste A LOT BETTER than before. it's great.

In contrast to prairiedawg, when I mentioned MJ as something that helped me. She totally changed the session into an addiction thing. I FINALLY got in to get my diagnosis, and she NEVER gave me the diagnosis. She referred me to AODA treatment and said nothing about ADD. I am so ****ed off at the "professionals" right now. Withholding the information like that should be illegal. The doctors do not have the right to play God.

Am I the only sorry sucker here that has to put up with this?
Research shmesearch, I am an adult and can make my own choice.
It's 1000 times easier to get illegal drugs than it is to get the right ones.

Note to the community: Finding the right doctor SUCKS. Telling someone to "go find a doctor" is hardly a solution. I have heard story after story how it takes months and months and persistence. And most all of you think that is OK. That is not OK. That is the way they are profiting HUGE off of our illness! Maybe I'm just smart, but my diagnosis is so completely obvious. I do not need a 'professional' to tell me anything. The people with money and access to good care are getting preferrential treatment. While the other "poor suckers" like myself have to navigate our crazy trains and beg for help. If there are so many people undiagnosed as thought to be, you would think the 'professionals' would make it a little simpler... Especially for an ADD'er that can't even navigate themselves to the kitchen half the time. It is so frustrating how accepting of this beaurocracy most of you are. Please somebody stand up to help the others that are struggling to get help... and those that haven't completely crashed yet and don't even realize that almost all their problems are due to a simple brain imbalance that could be helped instantly with a little pill.

I feel like the only 'rebel' in this crowd. Maybe all you that are medicated just forgot what the struggle was really like. Well here I am reminding you - IT SUCKS!

medical studies have debunked all theories of long term marijuana use, specifically those regarding focusing. Once the marijuana has left the system there are no residual effects that are not purely placebo.

And the residual effects of smoking, I have found, make it easier to focus (not while high - although sometimes) usually an hour or more after... Even a day or two later.

I used to experiment with marijuana in high school and it made my ADD a lot worse.
I have not smoked it since then.

Its psychosis... I dislike how people equate psychosis = schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is but one form of persistant psychosis.

There is amphetamine psychosis... there is cannabis psychosis. Really it comes down to a person's general mental disposition, their environmental conditioning and such as to if they will emerge into a cannabis psychosis.

Since we all create our own reality and all have a slightly different view of "it all" "the big picture" etc you could say we all have psychosis. A lot of people just agree on particular psychoses... the idea that economics is anything but a psuedo-science for instance.

Wake up and panic with ADD symptoms, finally give up and smoke. ADD is better, but then I suffer from DDA. Smoke wears off, back to ADD. Smoke again... DDA!

What's DDA? Um, I just made it up... but it is something let me tell you.

I have serious issues holding straight when i'm stoned so i never went to school stoned. (well not more than once or twice).

I found that doing things like english assignments and other things you are 100x more creative but 100x less productive (so you do some of your work, but not as much as you could not under the influence, but its 100x better).

I too have found mull very helpfull but be carefull buddy drugs can get u ... Please read my thread "beware the crossover"

what would you so to those (formaly myself ) who have resorted to ellicit amphetamines instead .... dex is the big problem and is sometimes made unavailable ... i have always foun cannabis most helpfull

Well I didn't get into smoking weed till I was 19, while in high school I knew people where smoking weed, tried it a couple times. I didn't think much of it, thought it was just a convenient way to burn off hours sitting on a couch watching TV and eating munchies.

Then I met some stoner friends and I really got into weed, was smoking every single day, multiple times a day and I developed what some would call a psychological dependence on it. When I didn't smoke weed I would get extremely depressed and irriatable. It takes me about 3 months to rebound from pot depression.

The real problems didn't start until about a year ago, I started getting really really bad anxiety, paranoia, and depression. Not to mention I felt really guilty about smoking weed in my parents house.

So now here I am, I don't smoke weed anymore... It just provokes too many adverse reactions in me. But everyone's reactions to substances are different, so I'm not saying weed is evil or terrible, just don't expect me to light up if you try to pass it to me.